Compliance with building boundaries for exterior stairs

Thank you very much Dirk.

That is of course lousy. The garage is now 3.60 or 3.40 less construction. It was also measured this way, without feedback from the authority.

A building encumbrance of course means a significant loss in value for the neighboring house. This is irrevocable.

I mean, what can the authority demand now. Demolition, fines, encumbrance entry?

Can I also make a burden entry afterwards? As long as it doesn't bother anyone?!

Sure, in case of a possible sale, you would have to agree with the new buyer!

The depreciation is limited. In fact, ist the neighboring property has already been devalued by your roof terrace - every buyer who is not part of the family sees that and immediately deducts something from the purchase price.

You will only know the outcome when you submit a building application. Basically, everything is possible.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

A building encumbrance naturally means a significant loss in value for the neighboring house.

No building encumbrance naturally means a significant loss in value for your house if the garage was built illegally.

It was accepted as such.

By the building authority? With an on-site inspection? That must have been on Ash Wednesday. Or was the wall height already specified in the building application and a neighbor approval formulated on the building documents, which your brother signed? If the building authority agreed to that, they might do the same for the outside stairs.

It was also surveyed as such, without feedback from the authorities.

During the building survey for the land registry, heights are usually not measured and a notification to the approval authority generally does not take place.

So actually, the height of the garage is 3.40m from the ground.

We will regulate the matter with the stairs etc. through building encumbrances [Baulasten], should any discrepancies arise.

If we register a building encumbrance and the neighbor sells, we may have to deregister it or renegotiate it with the buyer. If that’s not possible, it will be rebuilt. This means lowering the garage a bit, which is fortunately possible since it has a relatively high structure on top that can be removed with some effort. And of course, remove the stairs and order an attached balcony [Anbaubalkon] and then install the stairs there.

Why not do the attached balcony thing immediately? Because we plan to live there for the next 30 years and who knows what will come up then. And this attached balcony would be significantly more expensive.

If we register a building encumbrance and the neighbor sells, we may have to remove it again or renegotiate it with the buyer.

That is exactly not possible, since the building encumbrance is not a contract between private individuals but an entry in a public register here, the building encumbrance register. The building encumbrance remains in place until deletion is requested and the building authority (unilaterally!) examines whether the building encumbrance is still needed. If it is no longer needed, it will be deleted. Otherwise, it remains.

If that is not possible, it will be dismantled. Meaning the garage slightly lowered, which is fortunately possible because it has a relatively high structure on top of the garage that can be removed with some effort. And of course remove the stairs and order an attached balcony and then install the stairs there.

Simply dismantling down to 3m will not be enough; the roof terrace must also be dismantled. But none of that is dramatic; it can be — as far as can be judged from a distance — resolved cleanly.
What I find somewhat surprising, as does , is that you got approval/acceptance for a 3.4m high garage without a building encumbrance. That may be possible in some cases, but it is definitely somewhat unusual.

However, you can initially contact a publicly appointed surveyor near you without obligation to clarify how to proceed most cleverly without directly raising alarm at the building authority.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe